Thursday, December 8, 2011

China Syndrome | No cold shutdown possible at Fukushima

Dec 6, 2011: Paul Gunter, Beyond Nuclear joins Thom Hartmann. The crisis at Fukushima continues. Over the weekend - the crippled Japanese nuclear plant spewed even more highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean - roughly 45,000 liters in all. According to a French nuclear research institute - since the Fukushima nuclear crisis began in March - the plant has leaked more radioactive material into the ocean than has ever happened before in the history of the planet. And he claims that after more than 8 months since an earthquake and tsunami triggered this crisis - it's inevitable that nuclear fuel has leaked into the groundwater - meaning the "China Syndrome" is officially upon us. He also warned that if underground water gets overheated - it could trigger a hydrovolcanic explosion. So what does all this mean? Time to ditch nuclear power - the most expensive and dangerous form of energy on Earth.

One of the truly scary but perversely enjoyable characteristics of nuclear developers is their penchant for making it up as they go along – and then creating new Nukespeak words and concepts to describe what they’re up to as they do.

The latest example concerns the situation at Japan’s still-dangerous Fukushima Daiichi plant and comes to us via the Nuclear Energy Institute and its “Ask an Expert” question-and-answer page:

Question: What is “cold shutdown?”

NEI - Question: What is “cold shutdown?”: "TEPCO understood this important nuance to achieving 'cold shutdown' early on this year when it developed its initial recovery plans and developed a new term, “cold shutdown condition,” which applies to how they are bringing the reactors to stable condition."

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it is “the term used to define a reactor coolant system at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature below 200 degrees Fahrenheit following a reactor cooldown.”

“In non-nuclear speak,” the NEI’s anonymous expert helpfully explains, “it basically means the conditions within the nuclear reactor are such that it would be impossible for a chain reaction to occur.

Of late, news outlets have reported that Fukushima Daiichi may be in “cold shutdown” as soon as sometime this month. In actuality, however, as the NEI notes, “there is a difference between the traditional ‘cold shutdown’ of a nuclear plant and what is happening at Fukushima.”

When a reactor is in cold shutdown, the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) can be opened to add water to the cavity above it as a shield during either refueling or defueling. But at Fukushima Daiichi, cold shutdown is not been possible since the RPVs have been breached and will not hold water. Moreover, we now know that at least some melted fuel escaped, coming to within one foot of escaping primary containment on the floor below.

So there can and will be no cold shutdown of the Fukushima plant. Realizing that it was impossible, beleaguered utility executives at TEPCO, the plant operator, “developed a new term, cold shutdown condition,” the NEI reports.

Here’s how TEPCO defines it: “Temperature of RPV bottom is, in general, below 100 degrees Celsius. Release of radioactive materials from PCV is under control and public radiation exposure by additional release is being significantly held down.”

By this definition, the Fukushima Daiichi reactors will reach cold shutdown condition soon – “once they are below boiling point and are no longer releasing significant amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.”

Do you suppose this newly defined condition at Fukushima has anything to do with the fact that reaching cold shutdown at Fukushima Daiichi is impossible – but that TEPCO expects to reach the newly created cold shutdown condition by the end of the year?

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Einstein said,
"The splitting
of the atom
changed everything
save man's mode
of thinking;
thus we drift towards
unparalleled catastrophe."
He also said,
"Nuclear power is a hell of a way
to boil water!"

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